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Original poster

Tablet recommendations

24 replies

expatinspain · 14/10/2019 10:42

I'm looking for a tablet to buy 10 year old DD for Xmas. She likes playing roadblox and games that need a fair amount of storage. I don't want to spend a load of money, so iPads etc are out. Does anyone have any recommendations?

OP posts:
Original poster
expatinspain · 14/10/2019 10:43

*roblox

OP posts:
00100001 · 14/10/2019 10:44

Samsung Galaxy Tab

Huawei MediaPad

00100001 · 14/10/2019 10:44

What is your budget?

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00100001 · 14/10/2019 10:45

(because refurb ipads are about the same price)

Original poster
expatinspain · 14/10/2019 10:53

I want to spend £150 max. If there's one more expensive, I can check out the Black Friday deals or spot deals on amazon.

OP posts:
LadyR77 · 14/10/2019 11:22

Huawei MediaPad.

Original poster
expatinspain · 14/10/2019 11:49

Thanks 👍 I'll check out that one.

OP posts:
sugarbum · 14/10/2019 12:04

My favourite tablet is the amazon fire (HD10) . DH bought it for me last Christmas.
Once I figured out how to sideload android apps (which was easy) so I could have chrome, netflix, now tv etc it was perfect.
I let my DS1 use it on holiday so he has minecraft and roblox on there as well. Its 64GB but there's extra storage space if you want it.

Original poster
expatinspain · 14/10/2019 13:10

What do you mean by sideload??

OP posts:
ritzbiscuits · 14/10/2019 13:25

I work for a business making apps as my day job. I'd be quite careful looking at purchasing 'some' cheaper tablets, as they often won't be supported by app developers.

I often get emails in from users of very specific Android tablets and we can't dedicate any time to investigating a fix, because simply not enough of our customers are using that device.

If your daughter is very specific about using Roblox, you can see what device systems are supported here:
en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/203625474-Roblox-Mobile-System-Requirements

iOS share of market is so massive, a broader range/age of iPad devices will be supported by most app developers. I'd therefore consider either a refurbished iPad or if there is a possibility of a hand me down iPad if you have one already?

The Huawei Mediapad looks interesting and a good price, but there is an ongoing issue between Google/Huawei, where Huawei devices won't be getting Android updates in future. That personally would put me off buying one.

Original poster
expatinspain · 14/10/2019 14:03

Thanks for the info ritzbiscuits, that's really interesting. It really is a shame apple has such a monopoly as their products are expensive and date quickly. I have an iPhone and am a bit of a slave to apple as all my stuff is on icloud and iTunes. I was hoping to keep DD away from this until she's a bit older, as she really only needs something to play on at home.

OP posts:
sugarbum · 14/10/2019 14:12

sorry. Sideload. Basically anything Amazon is pre-loaded with Amazon apps. They do have some 'common' apps like netflix, but there are many Amazon aren't compatible with. Apparently it used to be that there was no easy workaround for this, so when I opened my pressie I was a bit 'oh' because I thought I wouldn't be able to use stuff like Now TV on it. However it was really easy to download and install a special file that allows you to install Google play and therefore all the apps you'd normally want on a tablet. Not just Amazon apps.

Original poster
expatinspain · 14/10/2019 15:24

Ah, ok. I see. I had a kindle fire a few years ago and I did the same. Never worked out how to get WhatsApp on it though. I'd imagine it's all even easier now.

OP posts:
ritzbiscuits · 14/10/2019 16:03

@expatinspain No worries. I know it's a pain, I ideally wanted to get my 6yo a new tablet, but decided just to pass down my 3 year old iPad tablet instead. Now I have a iPhone +, I don't really use my tablet anyway.

Don't suppose you have one knocking around that you can pass on?

Original poster
expatinspain · 14/10/2019 22:02

ritzbiscuits No unfortunately. She's got an
old iPhone which she uses for games, but WhatsApp and Roblox take all the storage, so it's not ideal. She uses WhatsApp to talk to her friends and family in the UK, so can't delete that unfortunately. I'm on a 6s at the moment, as here in Spain you have to buy the phone outright and pay silly money for a contract too!! I paid 700 euros three years ago, so will be using it until it dies!!

OP posts:
ritzbiscuits · 15/10/2019 07:35

That's a shame. I suppose you could look at a Amazon Fire tablet, but I'd suggest having a go on one in the flesh first.

Compared to iOS, the usability is quite poor, the screen resolution is lower, they can often feel a bit clunky and slower to load. However, with the price point being much lower, that's what you should expect.

If you were seriously considering one, I'd get one of the most up to date models. The 2015 one is awfully slow.

sugarbum · 15/10/2019 10:07

I don' t have whatsapp on my fire, only my phone, but I can try tonight to see if it will load.

Original poster
expatinspain · 15/10/2019 11:47

Great, thanks sugarbum Smile

OP posts:
ArfArfBarf · 15/10/2019 11:51

I have an oldish iPad mini (i’d guess 4/5 years old) and dd has a new kindle fire. The iPad is still streets ahead. The kindle fire is laggy and prone to crashing and not very easy to use.

footchewer · 15/10/2019 13:03

Same here, ancient ipad mini and newish kindle fire for our kids. The kindle fire never gets used, because its interface is horrible and confusing by comparison with the ipad.

@OP - You don't have loads of options for £150 though. We're moving our kids onto Chromebooks if that helps (I'm a computing nerd and want them to have experience with computers with real keyboards, not just 'toy' tablets), but you're well above £250 for that. (Chromebooks can install android apps nowadays so you should be able to get Whatsapp and Roblox working, though I haven't tried either so some research might be in order before purchase.) Sorry not to be more help.

ritzbiscuits · 15/10/2019 13:43

@ArfArfBarf @footchewer I'm glad it's not just me that thinks Kindle Fires are rubbish!

To add to what's been said above, Chromebooks are really excellent and could be a really good alternative. My DH has this one and it's under £200.

www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-14-cb3-431-14-intel-celeron-chromebook-32-gb-emmc-gold-10156146-pdt.html

A good plan to allow her to access the apps she wants and use for school work too?

footchewer · 15/10/2019 14:03

@ritzbiscuits Yes sorry, my £250+ Chromebook estimate was for a touch-screen one. Maybe one of these? They are far easier to use than Kindle fires!

sugarbum · 17/10/2019 11:27

Oh I meant to say, I successfully installed whatsapp on my fire HD. But then I took it off again as it stopped the whatsapp on my phone working as apparently you can only have it in one device with one number. Apparently theres a workaround but I don't know what it is.

sugarbum · 17/10/2019 11:29

Also, I've never used an ipad so I cannot compare to my kindle fire.
I have no doubts an ipad is better, but then the fire is better than my old hudl2 so y'know.
I haven't found the fire laggy at all, or indeed confusing, but then like I said, I don't know any better Grin

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